I try to plan as much as I can, and either pack a lunch to work, or I'll go home for lunch. There are those rare occasions where I need to eat on the go. What do you do in these times? Are there any fast food places that make salads that are actually healthy and tasty and made with something other than iceberg lettuce and dried carrot bits?

I have been recommitted to my weight loss since 11/30/09 and today is the first day I didn't bring lunch with me, and our fridge at home is pretty bare right now.

Thoughts? Ideas? THANKS!

Chipotle is a good option as you can make a healthy salad and it is 'real' food and is really filling. You could also make a subway salad as well but I only ate subway salads when I was desperate.

Lots of places list calorie counts online these days. Find out which restaurants are nearby, and see if you can look them up. That way you'll know what are the best choices.

jay

I sometimes get the a Naked Chicken Taco Salad at Qdoba with hot and medium salsa. No cheese. No sour cream.
= 330 cal.

Sometimes I will add the sour cream if I'm feeling crazy!
= 400 cal.

If you have an "El Pollo Loco" they have a great mexican chicken cesar salad. I get that minus the dressing and add salsa instead- SOO GOOD! Also since I low carb I eat 2 flame grilled legs with it as well.

The two legs, salad, and salsa all come to 450 calories- without the legs it's less than 300 calories.

I think Wendy's has a nice small side salad and you can get the baked potato too and it's cheap.

I work right next to a wal-mart, so if I need something, i run in there and grab an apple or a good prepackaged or frozen meal.

I love Subway

subway is my number once choice! but like mentioned above alot of places have thier menus listen online, i use this to get ready for night out or a buisness meeting. another solution is to have a few things in youe glove compartment...pre measured out almonds, one hudred calorie packs. or stop off at a grocery store and pick up pre cut veggies, and hummus, or the pre cut snack of fruit that are in the veggie/deli lanes.

ang

I like Wendy's... I get a small chili and a side salad (or 2!), and I use the chili on the salad instead of dressing (then just eat the rest of the chili, since there's a lot). I like that better than getting the southwest taco salad, which comes with all kinds of extra stuff I won't use (tortilla strips, dressing, sour cream). I also like the mandarin chicken salad (it comes with crunchy noodle things, dressing, and almonds - you probably don't need to use all of them).

I know Moe's makes a decent salad (I like it with tofu, black beans, lots of veggies, no cheese or dressing), so maybe other similar burrito places do as well (Qdoba, Chipotle).

any grocery stores around with a salad bar?

Unless I HAVE to drive thru - I stop at a grocery store and buy a piece of fruit, yogurt, piece of deli rotisserie chicken, protein bar, diet soda,etc. FF micro popcorn or micro meal is good if you can stop and heat it up.

I second the grocery store. Meijer sells salad "kits" that have spinach, toppings (cheese or bacon or whatever) and dressing. Dump it in the container, mix it up and bang, a salad.

A strategy I use is to always keep a protein bar in my purse in case I really get stuck. I don't routinely eat them, but it's nice to have one as a meal replacement option if I can't eat a proper meal. I always buy the ones with 10-12 grams of protein, and it is filling enough to get me through. I've also used this strategy a lot when on vacation. We went to Disney a few times since my dieting, and I'd eat a protein bar in the morning to sustain me long enough to hit the parks and make it to lunch.

Do you have a Panera bread near by? they have a low-fat black bean soup that is delicious. If you're careful, they have a lot of healthy choices. I like subway sandwiches a lot too.

But i normally carry around a bag of almonds and a Fiber One bar with me. Those two can get me through hours

I like getting a grilled chicken sandwich at Chikfila for 300 calories. They also have salads with grilled chicken, veggies, strawberries, etc. that look good and are low in calories (watch out for dressing though).

I like Subway salads--you can count on them. The calorie count is astronomically low if you do NO cheese and vinegar only--no oil.

Also, Sonic has apple slices and fresh bananas. I get those with a large black coffee in a pinch. Starbucks also has fresh bananas and soy milk.